Blackhawks able to change momentum of Blues series

Bickell's tying goal in Game 4 gave team a jolt of energy as it heads back to St. Louis

April 24, 2014|By Chris Hine, Chicago Tribune reporter

Momentum can crush and stifle. It can uplift and elate. It can inspire an average team to accomplish great things, and it can take a great team and suddenly make it look mediocre.

It can do all that — as long as you believe such a fickle, abstract concept exists.

At least for Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville and captain Jonathan Toews, momentum is a very real thing. Just look at what happened with the Blues in Game 4 on Wednesday night. Two late goals in the second period carried over after the intermission, with the Hawks playing tight and the Blues seemingly seizing control of the series after Vladimir Tarasenko put them ahead 12 minutes, 26 seconds into the third.

"Whether you feel it or not, in the playoffs it's definitely real," Quenneville said Thursday. "You can see after they scored those two goals in the second period, whether we came out hesitant or what, we were on our heels. For five, eight, 10 minutes, we were on the receiving end of a lot of the play."

But in hockey, momentum is never more than a shift, runout or defensive clearing away from changing. And late in the third period, the Hawks were able to reverse the tide thanks to a sly line change from Quenneville, who swapped Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane as Bryan Bickell scored the tying goal at the 16:08 mark playing alongside Hossa and Toews.

"There is (momentum)," Toews said. "And for us, we realize we gave it up a little bit too easily. … I don't know if it came from us marching to the box every couple of minutes; maybe that drained our energy a little bit."

But it perked up just in time, and now whatever momentum may exist in the series is with the Hawks. For that, forward Ben Smith said, the Hawks have Toews, Kane, Hossa and others to thank for finding a way to break the Blues' wave of pressure and confidence.

"It's our leadership," Smith said. "It's guys that have been there before, been in high-pressure situations and just knowing the importance of how big those moments were."

And there are likely more on the way.

Toews up for award: Toews was named a finalist for the Selke Trophy, given to the NHL's top defensive forward. Toews won the award last season. The other finalists are the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron and the Kings' Anze Kopitar.

"I owe a lot to my teammates for getting recognition like that," Toews said. "For any player to be nominated for an award is always a reflection not only of his own ability, but more so the teammates and the linemates he's playing with."

Backes still not skating: Captain David Backes did not take part in the Blues' optional skate, and his status for Game 5 is unknown. Backes did not participate in any practice before Game 4.